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Topic: The Prison Genre Cliche Thread (Read 260 times)

The escape thing is a constant because it's not really an exciting finale for the person to wait out their time and get returned to society. Although it is a real revolving door corrupt system, so there's plenty of sequel potential.

Back even before the grindhouse flicks, in the black and white days, there was a constant thread of the "undercover reporter" angle, seeking out the abuses in the prison, or the girl who was wrongfully arrested and the system screwed over, so there really is no other choice but to escape.

I definitely liked the sensational elements of those, like this is real stuff that no one had the guts to tell you about, the truth that general audiences can't handle, we say you can. It's almost like clickbait in a funny way (Reefer Madness did this as well, didn't it?)

Okay, so I saw a flick last night where half of it took place in a maximum security prison, here are some things I noticed...

* The more dangerous the place is, the fewer lights there are. Even though this is the opposite of what a prison should be, you know the place is a squallid heck-hole when it's dark even in the middle of the day, a window creates an effect like a stage light, and one of the lights overhead flickers on and off. I'd think if you had the craziest people all locked up in one place, yo'd make sure you can see them at all times.

* Grime. Probably closer to reality than I'd think. I always wonder if this is a case of location dictating style, they tend to make these movies in abandoned prisons and warehouses which typically aren't clean.

* You've got to fight to survive. Never mind that "keep your head down and power through" rule, never mind prison is usually the most mind-numbingly boring place in the world, in this dark, squallid places, it's kill or be killed (and btw, it's fine if you kill people in these prisons). Sometimes it's a tournament, half-dressed convicts grappling against each other until one's a bruised, bloody mess. In the case of "Famel Convict Scorpion," it was in ankle-deep mud (no idea where the mud CAME from) with the prize being a swig of Jack Daniels hanging off an old rope.

* The Southern Warden. This was a CHINESE movie and there was still a warden who looked like Col Sanders, what the heck? Maybe it's like a "too good for this place" sort of thing, I dunno.